Bodies of eight civilians, including three children, recovered from Mosul rubble

Iraqi firefighters look for bodies buried under the rubble, of civilians who were killed after an air strike against Islamic State triggered a massive explosion in Mosul. REUTERS/Stringer

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) – Iraqi authorities announced on Saturday that eight bodies of civilians have been recovered from the rubble in Mosul city.

Speaking to BasNews on Saturday, Cap. Hussein Ali said that civil defense forces managed to recover bodies of eight civilians, including three children, in al-Khanotiya area in Mosul’s western side.

The bodies “were sent to the forensic medicine department in order to be delivered to their relatives,” he added.

Thousands of Islamic State militants as well as Iraqi civilians were killed since the government campaign, backed by paramilitary troops and the coalition was launched in October 2016.

A total of 79 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 99 injured in acts of terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq in July 2018, according to casualty figures recorded by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

In December, Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi announced regaining control of all the territories that were captured by Islamic State since 2014. However, the group still has dormant cells, through which it carries out attacks across Iraq like it used to do before 2014.